India has made huge progress in the renewable energy sector and aims to provide 24x7 power to all its citizens.

India’s largest solar panel has been installed in Kerala. (Source: representational image: PTI)

The government of India has installed has taken India’s solar power generation capacity to another level by installing country’s largest Solar PV Plant installed in Kayamkulam, Kerala. It is a major step in achieving the goal of affordable 24X7 power as the new plant is likely to generate about 100 KWP power. In last few years, India has made huge progress in the renewable energy sector and aims to provide 24×7 power to all its citizens. The Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines in the Government of India, Piyush Goyal shared a video on Twitter making the news official.

Goyal believes that India’s solar power generation capacity would cross 20,000 MW in the next 15 months from the current level of 10,000 MW. He was quoted by the Power Ministry saying, “On 10th of March this year the installed solar power capacity in India has crossed 10,000 MW, four times the installed capacity three years back, which in next 15 months would cross 20,000 MW. India could not have completely focused on ‘Making in India’ in the last three years as being in the nascent stage, its solar power sector needed a technological and financial boost from abroad to rapidly expand its horizons.”

Watch the video here:

India’s largest floating Solar PV Plant has been installed in Kerala; taking a step forward to achieve the goal of affordable 24X7 power. pic.twitter.com/baMYu54s6R

As of May 26, 2014, India’s solar power generation capacity stood at 2,650 MW and in 2016, about 4 GW of solar capacity was added, the fastest pace till date. The sector has gradually reached a level where it can be called self-reliant. As much as 14,000 MW (or 14 gigawatts) of solar projects are currently under development and about 6 GW is to be auctioned soon.

According to power ministry estimates, another 8.8 GW capacity is likely to be added in 2017, including about 1.1 GW of rooftop solar installations. The government is targeting 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy capacity by 2022. Total renewable energy generation capacity is envisaged at 175 GW by 2022. Earlier last month, lower capital expenditure and cheaper credit had pulled down solar tariff to a new low of Rs 2.97 per unit in an auction conducted for 750 MW capacity in Rewa Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh.